Gimbal Bearing Removal Trick

[hoowahfun]

I removed the gimbal bearing today and wanted to share something that helped me remove it, and share something that didn't work.

I rented a 5 lb slide hammer from NAPA along with a puller attachment shown in the photo. Note that this attachment will NOT work. Even with it adjusted to spread the jaws all the way out, it's not far enough and will actually pull through the center hole of the bearing. A lot of you probably already knew that, but I found out the hard way lol.

What I did was I had a washer laying around that was pretty thick and the right size to slide over the slide hammer rod. I took it to the grinder to make two sides flat, then taped the nut from the slide hammer to the back of it (shown in photo without tape). I had to cut a hole in the tape for the threaded rod to pass through. Then I slid it into the bearing, nut up, then once it got in, arranged it so it sat up straight just behind the bearing. Then I threaded the rod in, gently pushing on it to keep it from spinning. It will help to make sure the nut with thread on easily beforehand. It did not damage the seal behind it.

Needless to say, it worked and I was able to get the bearing out with this method. Thought I would share this in case anyone ran into this issue or didn't have access to the hinged bearing puller tool.

 

[thumpar]

Autozone has one you can rent with 3 jaws. You just put the jaws inside and tighten them up then use the slide hammer. It took 2 good whacks when I did it on my old boat. No need to modify.

 

[hoowahfun]

Autozone has one you can rent with 3 jaws. You just put the jaws inside and tighten them up then use the slide hammer. It took 2 good whacks when I did it on my old boat. No need to modify.

That's good to know. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck with the part stores in my area (on more than one occasion) so I decided to improvise instead of spending all day searching for a tool.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,...... I bought this set, years ago,....

Ya rotate the tool so the shoe will slip through the bearin', turn it 180*, 'n the shoe flops over, 'n ya turn the wheel in to lock it, then wack the slide-hammer a couple times, 'n it's out,.....

 

[scoflaw]

Ayuh,...... I bought this set, years ago,....

Ya rotate the tool so the shoe will slip through the bearin', turn it 180*, 'n the shoe flops over, 'n ya turn the wheel in to lock it, then wack the slide-hammer a couple times, 'n it's out,.....

AutoZone loans that tool and slidehammers

 

[Alumarine]

I have the same bearing puller set as Bondo but instead of the slide hammer I used threaded rod to use them as a puller on the really stuck ones.

 

[hoowahfun]

That's a good idea marc c. It took quite a few whacks of that slide hammer to get mine out and started to make my joints hurt lol.